44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
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Acts 4:32-35
32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
Socialism is a grand failure representing one of the great evils of history, as it is based upon envy, covetousness and theft, taking away the resources of others by force. Those wielding governmental power then redistribute those resources to the people they approve of and deem worthy of receiving them.
Before I get into the Biblical rebuke of socialism, it's worthwhile to develop a definition in order to understand what is being talked about.
In the pure and original sense of the word and practice, it meant the government control of production. With that in mind, socialism has been for the most part rooted out of the world, with a few die hard countries like North Korea holding onto it, even while its people suffer from the failed theory and practice.
More recently it has been understood and defined as forced wealth redistribution, with governments using their taxing power and other means to extract wealth from the productive and create welfare programs that push people into dependence on the state, which essentially becomes their god and provider. This has yet to be dealt with by followers of Jesus Christ, who are confused over the issues that mixed together in such a way that makes it hard to understand how best to deal with the issue of helping those in real need.
Those who don't like to give their own personal resources to others, love to abuse or misuse a couple of scriptures in the book of acts - which are those listed above - in order to justify the confiscation of capital and resources of others. Since these are the go to scriptures for those trying to punish the productive and attempt to make them feel guilty for God's blessing upon them, we'll start there. These must be understood in order to have an accurate idea of how God works and what He expects of us when looking to help people.
Framework of the scriptures in Acts
The first thing to look at when considering the context of these two portions of scripture is the historical setting it was taking place in.
Jesus had prophesied Jerusalem was going to be destroyed, and listed the characteristics that would accompany that destruction in the Gospels. Since He decided to launch the church in the city of Jerusalem, He had to give a warning to His disciples on what to expect further down the road when the city would be judged. Not understanding that disallows understanding what is meant in the scriptures we're talking about.
Let's start with Acts 2:44-45.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
This first mention of the event was a general description. It tells us they had all things in common, and the reason for that is a significant number of productive believers with various resources and possessions sold them and they were distributed to the believers in the city.
In Acts 4:32-37 it gets into more detail.
32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
There are a number of things to take note of here. The first and probably most important is all of this was done voluntarily, and there was absolutely nothing of the state or government being involved, as socialism requires.
Alongside of that is the fact if it weren't for capitalism and the private property it entailed, there would have been no means of selling of goods and resources, because no one would have had extra to take those steps.
Capitalism and productivity led to the available resources, which in this time of crisis and changing world order, allowed property and homes to be sold so everyone could live while they waited for the right time to leave before the prophesied attack on Jerusalem came.
The implication is there was no further buying of properties of any kind because it was going to be destroyed in the not-too-distant future; although the specific time no one knew. This created a unique time in history that had to be dealt with by extraordinary measures.
Also of importance is those holding the properties had no incentive to keep them because of the insider information given to them by Jesus concerning the coming destruction. After the battle was over there would be little if anything left to salvage, including the temple. Their land and houses would be worthless if they survived in any form. The owners received market rates for their homes before the devastation came. Through that Jesus took care of His people in preparation for fleeing the city before the siege began.
If these people had been living under the evil of socialism, there would have been nothing to take care of the lives of God's people as they looked for the signs of the coming judgment and war. Thankfully Jesus isn't a socialist.
Considered nothing they had as their own
In Acts 4:32 its says the "multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own."
A cursory glance would suggest this was some unique attribute to be commended. In one way it probably should be. But consider this. The reason why they didn't considered the possessions they had as their own was because they weren't. Believers with resources sold their goods and the Apostles distributed them according to the needs of the people. They didn't work for what they had, by the grace of God and compassion of His people, they received what they needed.
There was no claim on their resources because of the sacrificial giving of God's people. So the idea they didn't consider anything their own isn't necessarily a great thing; it simply represented what was under the scenario of that time period.
Where the eternal and godly value lie is with those that voluntarily sold their resources in the first place to help the new and growing number of believers.
Why it became a crisis was because many of those that believed were visitors from around the world that were in Jerusalem. This created an emergency because of the large number of believers staying in the city, which would put pressure on job availability because of there being so many new people now living in the city.
On the day the church was born there were about 3,000 more believers added, and it grew consistently from there. While all new believers couldn't have stayed in the city, a large number of them apparently did, which again, was part of the crisis that developed, along with the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem by Jesus Christ.
I'm laboring on this point in regard to no one considering anything as their own, because it has been used to support the very socialism the Holy Scripture rebuke. Everything about what happened was the exact opposite of socialism, which was the voluntary giving. If it isn't yours to give and no sacrifice is required, it has no eternal value. God also wouldn't get the glory. Forced redistribution of wealth using the state as the mediator of that redistribution is evil, and ends up making it the god of many people who depend on it for their sustenance.
As a matter of fact, as the move of God unfolds as revealed in the scriptures, Paul later rebukes those that don't work, saying if they don't work, they aren't to eat.
The reason the Jerusalem church wasn't rebuked for participating in a similar lifestyle was because of the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem and the unique situation of the birthing of the first post-resurrection church, which soared in numbers from the pent-up waiting of the Messiah being fulfilled.
Those people via the disciples were also told about the war against Jerusalem and were take diligent watch and be ready to leave the city as the time approached. It was a special grace allowed them as the prior order was dissolved and the New Creation to spread across the earth. A major impetus of that was when they fled from Jerusalem.
Let them quit these gospels of envy, hate and malice.
Let them abandon the utter fallacy, the grotesque, erroneous,
fatal blunder of believing that by
limiting the enterprise of man,
by riveting shackles of a false
equality...they will increase the well-being of the world.
~ Winston Churchill
Private property ownership and voluntary giving saved first post-resurrection church
There is a hatred of private property around the world because those that are envious and covetous aren't in control of what can be done with it. If the government owns property, those with agendas, without having to spend any of their capital to develop it, or in many cases, just leave it bare and unproductive, can direct the usage of the land. They can't do it with private property, which enrages many of them.
In the case of the early church, capitalism of that time, private property, and the productive, saved the believers from mass starvation or being forced to leave Jerusalem under unfavorable conditions. There is no doubt private property and the voluntary selling of that private property saved an untold number of people living in Jerusalem.
Socialism had no part in it, and it never has in history. One thing socialists have learned is it can't exist outside of capitalism and private property because it is a parasite feeding on the productivity of others. If it totally destroyed capitalism and entrepreneurs, it would quickly die because it offers nothing but the theft of the resources of others.
State ownership of production is quickly going the way of the Dodo bird, but forced wealth redistribution still must have a stake driven into its heart.
Conclusion
Even though there was voluntary giving in Jerusalem by those that held private property and resource, over time the numbers of the church and lack of resources challenged the ability to have needs met.
After Paul visited Jerusalem he was asked to remember the poor, which was no doubt a reference to the poor believers in Jerusalem.
He decided to convey it to the churches he worked with, and as 2 Cor. 8:3 says, they gave “according to their ability, and beyond their ability, of their own accord.” Giving of their own accord was another way of saying they gave voluntarily.
Another interesting aside to this is not only didn't the government of the period have anything to do with it, church government and leadership didn't coerce believers to give. They were told about the situation and needs and asked to give what they could if they were so disposed. Never was it as a result of pressure, otherwise it would lose its eternal value when God rewards each according to his work in this lifetime.
This type of giving gives glory to God, and is the type Jesus referred to when He said if we give to the least of their brethren, they're giving unto Him. That's the value and power of voluntary giving. Having the resources to give is the result of productive people serving the Lord as best they can with the abilities they've developed.
It's more blessed to give than to receive the Bible teaches us. That blessedness comes from the individual resources people are managing and freely and cheerfully sharing with others.
The followers or Jesus Christ must resist, reject and pray against the socialist evil that forcibly takes from the productive and redistributes the capital to people and projects lining up with their worldview and agendas, such as planned parenthood and welfare programs that keep people in slavery, if they're allowed to live by the murderous abortion mills in the first place.
Again, private property as a result of productivity, along with Christians willing to voluntarily sell their lands and homes in order to meet the needs of their brothers and sisters, is what saved the first believers in Jesus Christ. It will do the same today, while promoting the freedom adhering to Biblical requirements and principles bring about.
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